


You're Mine

by Glayvas



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Arthur Knows About Merlin's Magic, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-03
Updated: 2015-12-03
Packaged: 2018-05-04 16:29:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5340839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glayvas/pseuds/Glayvas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin and Arthur throw a Christmas party for all of their friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You're Mine

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nomical](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nomical/gifts).



> First and foremost, Happy Holidays to nomical!
> 
> Second, thank you to my master editor, K, for knowing exactly what I was trying to say and showing me a better way how. 
> 
> Third, the title is inspired by Jeremih's Christmas song "You're Mine". Feel free to listen to it on repeat as you read the story. I know I did.
> 
> And of course a big thank you to the organizers of this. This was my first time participating and it was a blast!

“Merlin?”

Merlin heard Arthur’s keys jingle as he set them down on the table.

“Merlin!”

He waited quietly, stifling his laughter behind his hand. He could hear Arthur going from room to room, searching for him. Living room? ...No. Kitchen? ...Nope. Bedroom…? No.

Merlin often liked to play this little game with Arthur when he arrived home first. Arthur, never a patient one, grew more excited and more determined the longer the search, a fact which made Merlin’s toes tingle and his heart wring. To think, just a few years ago, he would’ve given anything to hear the desperate need in Arthur’s voice he was hearing now.

He heard Arthur’s yell of “Aha!” as he tore back the covers from their bed, only to be followed by a groan of frustration at having only found the bunch of pillows Merlin had hidden as a decoy. Merlin giggled again into his hand.

Quietly, Merlin tiptoed into the hall, through the kitchen, and into the pantry. This wasn’t exactly the best hiding place as there was no way out from here, but Merlin was starting to really crave Arthur’s hello kiss and was therefore just about ready to give up anyway.

He could hear Arthur’s heavy footsteps enter the bathroom; he must not have even taken his workboots off yet. Merlin heard the shower curtain being thrown aside, the metal hooks screaming in protest.

“Oh _Mer_ lin…” Arthur’s voice was soft now, almost dangerous. “Oh _Mer_ lin, come out come out wherever you are...”

Merlin felt the goosebumps rise on his skin.

The footsteps came back to the kitchen. They paced a few steps and then stopped directly in front of the pantry door. Merlin sank to the floor, biting his lip to stop his laughter.

“Hmmm… Merlin actually closed the pantry door? Merlin, who leaves every damn cupboard door open because he’s ‘going to go back into it anyway’?”

Arthur had tried, unsuccessfully, to imitate Merlin’s voice. Merlin felt a vague stab of injustice that Arthur had made his voice that high and squeaky. His voice definitely not squeaky. It was manly and deep. It was Clark Kent or Mufasa or… or... James Earl Jones. Merlin was furrowing his brow over the realization that those last two were in fact the same voice when the pantry door wrenched open.

“Found you!” Arthur beamed triumphantly.

Merlin grinned back, not at all unhappy to have lost the game, and stood to wrap his arms around Arthur.

 

*** * ***

 

“So how are preparations for the Christmas party coming along?”

Merlin was sitting at the coffee shop where he and Morgana met at every Thursday.

“Sorry, what?” Merlin had been engaged in an inner struggle between choosing the semi-healthy BLT or just saying bugger it and ordering the chips and gravy. His stomach growled.

“Oh, you know! The Christmas party, Saturday? How’s it coming?”

“Er. Well... it’s going to be brilliant!” Merlin supplied cheerily.

“It’s _going_ to be brilliant?” Morgana said the words slowly. She dragged out the the last syllable of “brilliant” like she was seeing just how long she could make it.

“Well... I actually haven’t started preparing for it...”

“Good god, Merlin! The party’s in two days! What the bloody hell have you been doing?”  
Merlin absentmindedly twirled his finger above his coffee. Below, his spoon matched his finger’s pattern in his coffee cup.

What had he been up to? He felt the corners of his mouth twitch upwards as he thought back to the hot and sweaty nights with Arthur. And the afternoons... and the mornings.

What with Arthur’s job running Pendragon Construction and Merlin’s job as the lead art curator at the biggest museum in London, neither of them had much spare time. Therefore, any spare time they did have was spent wrapped around each other.

They’d meant to plan the party sooner, they really had. But somehow whenever either one of them brought it up, they’d end up speaking in vague innuendos (his current favorite of which being Arthur’s brilliant “I’ve got a party here for you” while glancing rather obviously toward his own crotch). This inevitably led to a number 69 formation, or a number 17, or a 57, and one memorable evening, all three. After that particular night, Merlin was sore for a week.

“You dirty little bastard!”

“What?!” said Merlin, his head snapping up.

“I’d know that smile anywhere. That’s your “I’m thinking about hot sex” smile,” Morgana grinned and rolled her eyes. “Christ, I thought I’d see it less once you and Arthur finally got together and you stopped all the daydreaming.”

Merlin blushed furiously.

“Well, at least one of us is getting it.” She sunk down in her chair, pouting, arms folded across her chest.

“Morgause still standing strong, eh?”

“Like the bloody Wall of China. Absolutely no communication. Oh, Merlin,” she groaned. “If we could just talk, I know we could get through this. I didn’t ever mean to put her second.”

Merlin looked at Morgana and took in just how miserable she was. At a glance, she looked like she had survived the breakup just fine. But Merlin knew better. Usually meticulous with her appearance, Morgana’s shiny black hair was tied back and oily. She had bags under her eyes and had worried her nails down to the quick.

“Morgana... I’m so sorry.”

Morgana’s eyes met his, disarmed at first by the tenderness in his voice, but then she waved away his sympathy with a flick of her hand.

“C’est la vie, right?” She faked a smile.

Merlin tried to return a smile back. He could see the cracks beneath the surface.

“I just can’t wait for the party,” she said in a falsely cheery voice.

And with that, Merlin knew Morgana was dismissing the subject. He squeezed her hand and payed the bill.

 

*** * ***

 

Three hours later, Merlin was preparing the holiday drinks — lemon vodka, grenadine, and a splash of sprite, thank you, for Morgana; a special version of Gluhwein for Gwaine; and of course, a spiked eggnog for Gwen. He was just magiking the whiskey and rum to stir themselves into the eggnog when he felt Arthur press against him from behind.

Arthur nibbled Merlin’s neck. “Mmmm… my M&M.”

“Oh, am I a dessert?” he asked, smiling. Then, thinking of everything that still hadn’t been done, Merlin sighed. “Speaking of dessert, you better get that figgy pudding out of the fridge before everyone gets here.”

“Look at you, all bossy and such. I like it.” And with that, Arthur went promptly back to doing extremely unfair things to Merlin’s neck, making him feel extremely unfair feelings, especially when everyone was arriving in only half an hour.

He shook his head in an attempt to regain some sort of coherent consciousness, and tried, rather unsuccessfully, to ignore the feeling of the blood whooshing to his other head. Everything in that region was beginning to feel quite tight.

 

*** * ***

 

Merlin heard a squeal of delight and then only saw hair. Lots and lots of dark, curly hair. He smelled Gwen’s familiar scent, with notes of lemon and lavender wrapped into one.

“My god, Merlin, the place looks brilliant!”

Merlin had carefully strung all of the Christmas lights and decorated by hand. Ordinarily, this would’ve taken no time at all, but Arthur had bet him he couldn’t do it without magic this year, and he was not going to let him win, damn it... though he did sneak bits in here and there.

He’d strung white, glittering lights all along the perimeter of the ceiling and down the door frames. He’d hung mistletoe in every doorway (Merlin couldn’t resist this sappy reminder of how he and Arthur had finally first kissed), and had bunched clustered boughs of holly with glistening red berries in places here and there and, well, pretty much everywhere.

Their house, small but cozy, was so decorated that it was certainly holding its own against even the North Pole.

The Christmas tree stood in the corner of the living room, taking its fair bit of space, fat red and white ornaments dripping from its limbs. On the top of the tree, Arthur had secured their favorite topper once given to them by Morgana: an iridescent dragon with motorized wings they had nicknamed Aithusa.

Achingly, Merlin had hung all of these items with an artist’s eye for perfection while Arthur walked around laughing every time Merlin let out a groan of frustration, or dropped a tack, or in one instance when Merlin had hung an entire string only to find that one single bulb had burned out and ruined the whole strand.

The final decoration was soft, fluffy snowflakes drifting from the ceiling which vanished upon reaching the middle of the room. Merlin was fairly certain that Arthur knew this was magic.

“And yumm! The food looks great! Arthur is always such a wonderful cook,” said Gwen warmly.

“Just don’t go telling him that. You already know how he can be such a prat,” Merlin smirked. He had heard Arthur coming up behind him and made sure he’d heard the last part.

He felt Arthur’s arms wrap around his waist and he leaned back into them.

“What’s this? Do I hear someone praising me?”

Gwen snorted and shoved his shoulder. “And here’s his majesty now.”

“Gwen, where’s Lance?” Arthur asked.

“Oh, he’s unloading the gifts from the car. I’ve got to tell you, we’ve been looking forward to this party for ages. Work has been killing us.”

“We’re happy to oblige!” Arthur said cheerfully. “I’ll waste no time in granting your wishes.” Arthur went to fetch Gwen a drink and Gwen leaned closer into Merlin.

“So, any new and exciting things?” She waggled her eyebrows at him.

“Not really. I have a really big art show coming up and Arthur is starting a brand new project on Monday. According to him, it’s going to make us loaded.”

“Oh, Merlin. I just love that everything has worked out. You two really are two sides of the same coin. I couldn’t imagine a better couple.”

“Except maybe you and Lance!”

“True. We’re probably the best,” she said, laughing. “Uh oh, looks like Lance is trying to win a drinking game… let’s watch, shall we?”

 

*** * ***

 

A short time later, the rest of the guests arrived: Gwaine, followed soon after by Percival — the two had been flirting for ages and Merlin and Arthur were both hoping this party would push things along; Morgause, to the surprise of both Merlin and Morgana; then Freya, Leon, Elena, and Elyan all tying for last.

It didn’t take long for the party to reach full swing. The bowls of mixed drinks had refilled themselves many times, the music was playing, and nearly everyone was dancing. Gwen was tipsily dancing against Lance, who was tipsily trying to keep them both standing, and Gwaine was attempting to get a conga line going, without much success.

After many rounds of drinking and then dancing as well as the particularly memorable moment when Gwaine finally coerced everyone into actually doing the conga, Arthur called everyone together.

“Alright everyone, now that you’ve had your merriment, it is time for Secret Santa,” Arthur declared in his most posh and formal speaking voice, “so please — get the fuck over here. Thank you.”

Everyone gathered in a makeshift circle and sat around the gifts piled in the center of the room. Before this happened, there was quite a bit of shuffling as Gwaine had thrown some elbows in order secure his place next to Percival. Percival, blushing, pretended not to notice that Gwaine had just shoved aside Freya rather roughly and then practically sat on top of Leon to secure said place.

“You’ve all received and hopefully bought for a person,” Arthur took the time to deliberately stare at Gwaine, who rolled his eyes.

“Oi! It was one time, mate! When are you going to get over it?”

“As I was saying, you’ve all bought for a person randomly drawn for you by Merlin and I. Now, we’re going to—”

“Get on with it!” Leon shouted.

“Yeah, I want presents!” added Gwen.

Arthur pinched his brow. “There are rules.”

“Yeah, you grab the present addressed to you and then you have the incredibly hard task of opening it. Not exactly rocket science, little brother,” said Morgana.

“Fine!”

Morgana reached into the pile. “Oh goody, I’ll start.”

Her package, wrapped in silver, was long and thin. “Hmm… I wonder what this could be?”

She tore off the wrapper hastily and gasped.

“Oh, it’s so pretty!”

In her hand was a sparkling silver necklace. The pendant, a heart shaped emerald, glittered from the light of the Christmas tree. “And it’s my favorite color.”

Someone whistled and shouted, “Oi, that’s over the gift limit!”

“You have to guess who gave it to you!” yelled Merlin.

Morgana looked up from the necklace, her eyes flitting from guest to guest.

Merlin noticed they lingered a little longer on Morgause, while Morgause was looking pointedly away.

“Hmmm... it’s got to be Merlin.”

Merlin grinned. “Nope, not me. Guess again.”

“...Arthur?”

Arthur snorted. “Like I’d spend that much on you.”

Morgana gave him a glare and huffed out a sigh. “I really haven’t a clue.”

Inside, Merlin was shaking with excitement. Secretly, he and Arthur had rigged the drawing, and purposefully given Morgana and Morgause each other for the gift exchange. They needed just a little nudge and this was the perfect way to do so. It was a risky move. Merlin wasn’t even sure that Morgause would show, but he hoped it would pay off in the end.

After a few more seconds of silence, Morgause confessed herself the giver in a hushed voice.

Morgana, taken aback, said “Thank you, Morgause. It’s beautiful,” in an equally small voice. Like tendons, they were connected, and in that moment, the energy of their connection was palpable in the room.

“Okay, okay, who’s next?” asked Gwen, making grabby hands.

“Why, I think that would be me,” said Merlin. After some shuffling, he found an oddly shaped red package. Perplexed, he lowered his eyebrow and glanced at Arthur. “It’s squishy.”

“Well open it then, you idiot.”

Merlin tore the package and found himself staring at two fuzzy balls with odd pictures glued to them. He looked closer at the pictures. If he wasn’t mistaken it looked quite like...

“Oh my god!” he shouted, accidentally sending the fuzzy dice flying into the air.  
A peal of laughter erupted around the circle.

“What? What is it?” asked Arthur, picking up the dice. Merlin could see him turning steadily more and more red as he took in the pictures.

“Sex dice!” squealed Merlin. “Who in the devil bought me sex dice? Oh, this must be Morgana.”

By then, Morgana was doubled over in laughter. Merlin could just barely make out the words “wasn’t me” and “promise”.

“Gwen?”

“Not I!”

“Leon?”

“Sorry, mate.”

Merlin went through several more names before he heard a very quiet voice say “It was me”.

“Percival?!” Another peal of laughter went around the room. Percy started to blush. Gwaine was looking at Percival like he was reconfiguring his whole image of him. From what Merlin could tell, Gwaine seemed to like this new image.

“Now that’s a gift for two,” said Gwen, waggling her eyebrows. “Okay, now meee next!”

Overall, Merlin thought it was a pretty successful gift exchange. Gwen received a wine glass designed to fit a whole bottle, Leon opened a rain jacket for his dog (“Now we can run together!” he beamed), and Percy got a not so subtle song sung by Gwaine officially asking him out to the tune of “Jingle Bells”. Percy accepted.

Morgause had opened her present from Morgana as well.Cautiously, she’d unwrapped a delicate replica of the Eiffel Tower, the place where Morgause had proposed to Morgana. He saw her lips tug upwards into a tiny smile as she took in the ceramic tower. Her eyes immediately landed on Morgana who gave her own tiny smile in return. From the intense gaze they shared, Merlin knew that his little trick had worked and that a reunion would definitely be in their future tonight.

It was moments like this that reminded Merlin just how lucky he was to have Arthur. They had gone through their agony a few years ago and Merlin didn’t wish that upon anyone, least of all Morgana. He knew what it felt like to have a thousand things to say but not the chance to say them. How it felt to have a rather large elephant in the room, which, ironically enough, felt like it was perched on your chest, weighing your very heart with sadness, with longing.

Merlin looked at Arthur, animatedly discussing the latest football stats with Elyan. His hair was tousled, like he’d run his hand through it several times — a sure sign that he was arguing about something passionately. The way his hair looked all roughed, the way his cheeks were flushed from the spiked eggnog, the way his red v-neck made Merlin think of what was below that shirt... Merlin suddenly had to have him.

He grabbed the dice and stuffed them under his sweater. Casually, he strolled over to Arthur and leaned on his shoulder. While Elyan was expounding on the failings of Chelsea, he snaked his arm under Arthur’s shirt, up his back, and very slowly dragged his nails down Arthur’s back. Recognizing their code, Arthur raised his eyebrows at Merlin and quickly made an excuse to Elyan, saying something incomprehensible about the figgy pudding.

When they were away from the party, secreted into their bedroom closet, Arthur lost no time in tearing off Merlin’s shirt.

“Such a lovely surprise,” he mumbled against Merlin’s neck.

Merlin arched his back at Arthur’s rather insistent sucking. Goosebumps rose on his skin and his nipples grew hard, pressing into Arthur’s chest. The dice promptly fell out from under his sweater and Arthur looked down at them and chuckled.

He resumed kissing Merlin, mumbling “mine, mine, mine” as he slid his hot mouth down his neck, over Merlin’s chest. He felt Arthur’s tongue probe his bellybutton and Merlin let out a squeal which he was sure the whole party heard.

Merlin backed up a few paces and stared directly at Arthur. He slowly took off his pants. Arthur licked his lips. Already, he could see the bulge pressing against his jeans. His hair was sweaty and mussed.

“Get your pants off. Now,” Merlin demanded.

Arthur’s eyes widened and he quickly started undoing his jeans, ripping them down to his ankles… where they caught on the stupid long socks he insisted on wearing, causing him to stumble, grasp a few coats, and tear down half the closet in the process.

He looked up at Merlin from the floor, bewildered as Merlin cracked up.

“You really are ridiculous, aren’t you? Stay there,” Merlin demanded. “Don’t worry, I’ll rescue you.”

Merlin climbed down to the floor and sat on Arthur’s lap, straddling his hips.

“I like this help,” Arthur grinned.

Merlin rocked his hips back and forth a few times. Arthur let out a groan. He ground against him a few more times, and Arthur groaned even louder. Merlin laughed.

“Oh, you think this is funny, you little tease?” he asked.

“Hmm, let me think... yep, quite funny.”

“I’ll show you funny...”

Arthur did a complicated little flip which landed Merlin firmly beneath him. Now, Arthur was on top and Merlin was left breathless.

“Hey! Not fair!”

Arthur laughed and bent down to nibble on Merlin’s earlobe. He licked the inside of it. Before he could protest the change in position even more, Arthur kissed Merlin so deeply that Merlin suddenly couldn’t quite remember how to breathe. He kissed him like he was starving. He kissed him like he would never be able to kiss him again.

His tongue slid into Merlin’s mouth, tracing his teeth. One hand cradled Merlin’s head while the other slithered underneath his hips to tug them even closer. When he finally pulled back from their kiss, Merlin saw Arthur’s eyes sparkling with so much overwhelming love that Merlin didn’t want to waste another second.

He needed him now. He needed to show him how much he needed him now.

He shimmied out part way from underneath Arthur before flipping them over so he was on top again. On the ground next to him, he grabbed up the dice, grinning wickedly. “Look what I brought.”

Arthur raised his eyebrows. “Roll them,” he said.

Merlin rolled the dice. One landed on a picture with a man with shaggy blonde hair kneeling in front of a man shaggy black hair. This one obviously meant that Arthur was supposed blow Merlin. The other had a picture of a refrigerator on it, which Merlin assumed meant they were supposed to do the previously assigned deed in the kitchen. Or possibly in a very large fridge.

 _"Well, that’s not going to work,"_ thought Merlin. His eyes glowed a warm golden yellow as the dice magically flipped to a picture of a miniature Merlin blowing a miniature Arthur and a picture of a closet. Perfect.

“Oi!” came Arthur’s yell.

“What?” said Merlin, innocently.

“I saw that! The pictures changed!”

“No, they didn’t.”

“Yes, they did. And your eyes went all glowy! You’re using magic to rig the game!”

In the most condescending tone he could muster, Merlin replied, “Arthur, I really think you’ve had too much to drink, love.”

“No, I haven’t! You changed the dice! You cheated!”

“Are you saying you don’t want me to suck your cock?” As Merlin said this, he was gently tugging on Arthur’s cock, circling his thumb over its oh so sensitive tip.

“Well... it’s... it’s not... mmm...” Arthur was having quite a difficult time forming words.

“Yes, love?” He giggled.

“Mmm... cheated... fair...” Merlin licked the tip of Arthur’s cock and he jumped. “I guess... well... that’s what the dice say... so...”

Quickly and in one swift movement, Merlin took all of Arthur’s cock into his mouth, sucking hard enough that his cheeks hollowed.

“Oh, fuck,” said Arthur, arching his back and gasping.

Merlin moved very slowly at first, dragging Arthur’s cock in and out of his mouth. His hips jerked forward every time Merlin reached the tip. When Arthur no longer had the ability to form any words, and when his cock was wet and slippery, and when Merlin’s cheeks were starting to ache, Merlin sped up, moving up and down, up and down over Arthur’s cock. Frantically, Arthur grabbed the back of Merlin’s head, clutching at his hair, and thrusting hard. Faster and faster Merlin sucked and faster and faster Arthur’s hips moved until Merlin felt the him trembling and heard his desperate groans before he exploded into Merlin’s mouth.

Arthur’s head sank back onto the closet floor and Merlin crawled up towards him, smiling.

“I know you cheated. Just wait, I’ll get you back, Merlin,” said Arthur, exhausted and smiling. He kissed the top of Merlin’s head.

“I can’t wait.”

 

*** * ***

 

They were just enjoying their post-coital cuddle, Merlin resting his head on Arthur’s chest, when suddenly bright lights flooded the closet, and the door was wrenched open. Merlin looked up to see Morgana staring down at them, open mouthed in shock.

“Oh my god, you horny little things! You can’t go five seconds without attacking each other, even at your own party? We’ve been looking for you for ages!”

Merlin buried his face in Arthur’s chest at the same time Arthur yelled “Morgana, get out!”

She flounced away, calling “Naughty, naughty!”

As much as he hated to admit it, Morgana was right. They had been gone quite a while and it was technically their party.

Grudgingly, they dressed and formulated a plan to re-enter the party a few minutes apart, Arthur going second.

Peering into the living room from the hallway, Merlin waited until no one was looking before casually strolling back into the living room. He thought he’d successfully infiltrated back into the festivities when he felt a sudden hard smack on his back.

“Did you use the dice, mate?” said Gwaine, appallingly loud and winking.

Merlin smiled sheepishly and felt his face become hot. “Er, maybe.”

“Get a move on with those, eh? I want to borrow them.”

“That will never happen,” Merlin grinned, shaking his head.

Just then, Merlin noticed Arthur saunter in. Merlin rolled his eyes. So much for inconspicuous. His hair was sticking up on one side and he had that obvious sex-flushed look about him. He faked a look of surprise when he saw Merlin, his eyebrows arching comically high.

“There you are, Merlin! I’ve been looking for you!”

“We all know, Arthur,” called Lance from the other side of the room.

Arthur turned a boiling shade of red.

“Well, then,” and Merlin saw Arthur quickly down another glass of eggnog.

 

*** * ***

 

A little while later, the party was beginning to dwindle. “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”, the final song on the Christmas playlist, came on, and Merlin and Arthur enfolded their arms around each other. Merlin extended his other arm around Percival, who extended his own around Gwaine, who put his around Elyan, and so on and so forth. On his other side, Arthur held his arm around Morgana, who held her arm Morgause until everyone at the party was somehow connected.

Merlin looked around. He saw the heads of Gwen and Lance tipped towards one another, staring lovingly into each other’s eyes.

He looked next to Morgana, shyly kissing a smiling Morgause. He could tell that this time, the reunion was permanent.

He looked over Morgause to Percival and Gwaine beside him and watched Gwaine’s hand travel sneakily down Percival’s back to cup his butt. He caught Percival’s surprised face and saw his small, pleased smile before Percy leaned down and brushed a kiss on Gwaine’s forehead.

The last few years had brought many changes for all of them, and the next few would bring many more. But that’s the thing about life; it has constancy in change, a constancy in not knowing what may come.

One thing Merlin did know, however, was that the man beside him would be there always, next to him, forever and always.


End file.
